Approximately thirty minutes into the flight, the hijackers forcibly breached the cockpit and overpowered the pilot and first officer, allowing lead hijacker and trained pilot Marwan al-Shehhi to take over the controls. Unlike Flight 11, which turned its transponder off, the aircraft's transponder was visible on New York Center's radar, and the aircraft deviated from the assigned flight path for four minutes before air traffic controllers noticed these changes at 08:51 EDT. They made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the cockpit. Unknown to the hijackers, several passengers and crew aboard made phone calls from the plane to family members and provided information about the hijackers and injuries suffered by passengers and crew.

The aircraft crashed into Tower Two (the South Tower) of the World Trade Center at 09:03. The Flight 175 hijacking was coordinated with that of American Airlines Flight 11, which struck the top of Tower One (the North Tower) 17 minutes earlier. The crash of Flight 175 into the South Tower was the only impact seen live on television around the world as it happened. The impact and subsequent fire caused the South Tower to collapse 56 minutes after the crash, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties. During the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site, workers recovered and identified remains from Flight 175 victims (see the Aftermath section below), but many other body fragments could not be identified.

United Airlines Flight 175

UA 175's flight path from Boston to New York City on September 11, 2001.

In early September 2001, the Flight 175 group of hijackers arrived in Boston from Florida. Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi arrived together on September 7 and checked into the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The next day, they relocated to the Days Inn in Boston. Fayez Banihammad flew from Florida to Boston, along with Mohand al-Shehri, on September 8, and they checked into the Milner Hotel in Boston. Marwan al-Shehhi arrived in Boston on September 9 and stayed at the Milner Hotel, where he shared a room with Flight 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta.[3]

Flight

N612UA, the hijacked aircraft, in 1999.

Aircraft

The flight was operated with a Boeing 767-200, registration number N612UA, built and delivered in 1983,[4] with capacity of 168 passengers (10 in first class, 32 in business class, and 126 in economy class). On the day of the attacks, the flight carried only 56 passengers and 9 crew members, which represented a 33 percent load factor — well below the average load factor of 49 percent in the three months preceding September 11.[5]

Passengers and crew (excluding hijackers)

The nine crew members included Captain Victor Saracini, First Officer Michael Horrocks, and flight attendants Robert Fangman, Amy Jarret, Amy King, Kathryn Laborie, Alfred Marchand, Michael Tarrou, and Alicia Titus.[6] Excluding the hijackers, the passengers on the flight included 35 men, 12 women, and three children who were all under the age of 5,[7] and included Garnet "Ace" Bailey, the director of pro scouting for the Los Angeles Kings and a former National Hockey League player.

Boarding

Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked out of their hotel and called a taxi to take them to Logan International Airport.[8] They arrived at the United Airlines counter in Terminal C at 06:20 Eastern Time and Ahmed al-Ghamdi checked in two bags. Both hijackers indicated they wanted to purchase tickets, though they already had paper tickets. They had trouble answering the standard security questions, so the counter agent repeated the questions very slowly until the men gave the correct answers.[2][9] Hijacker pilot Marwan al-Shehhi checked in a single bag at 06:45, and the other remaining hijackers, Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri, checked in at 06:53. Banihammad checked two bags.[2] None of the hijackers were selected for extra scrutiny by the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS).[10]

Shehhi and the other hijackers boarded Flight 175 between 07:23 and 07:28. Banihammad boarded first and sat in first class seat 2A, while Mohand al-Shehri was in seat 2B. At 07:27, Shehhi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi boarded, and sat in business class seats 6C and 9D, respectively. A minute later, Hamza al-Ghamdi boarded, and sat in 9C.[2][10]

The flight was scheduled to depart at 08:00 for Los Angeles. Fifty-one passengers and the five hijackers boarded the 767 through Terminal C's Gate 19. The plane pushed back at 07:58 and took off at 08:14 from runway 9,[2][11] about the same time Flight 11 was hijacked. By 08:33, the aircraft reached cruising altitude of 31,000 feet, which is the point when cabin service would normally begin.[2] At 08:37, air traffic controllers asked the pilots of Flight 175 whether they could see American Airlines Flight 11. The crew responded that Flight 11 was at 29,000 feet, and controllers ordered Flight 175 to turn and avoid the aircraft.[12] The pilots declared that they had heard a suspicious transmission from Flight 11 upon takeoff. "Sounds like someone keyed the mic and said everyone stay in your seats", the flight crew reported. This was the last transmission from Flight 175.[13]

Hijacking

It is estimated that Flight 175 was hijacked between 08:42 and 08:46, while Flight 11 was just minutes away from hitting the North Tower.[2] According to Flight 175: As the World Watched, it is believed that "muscle hijackers" Fayez Banihammad and Mohand al-Shehri forcibly entered the cockpit and killed the pilots while Hamza al-Ghamdi and Ahmed al-Ghamdi started moving passengers and crew to the back of the aircraft. The first operational evidence that something was abnormal on Flight 175 came at 08:47, when the plane's transponder signal changed twice within the span of one minute, and the aircraft began deviating from its assigned course.[11][14] However, the air traffic controller in charge of the flight did not notice until minutes later at 08:51.[2] Unlike Flight 11, which had turned its transponder off, Flight 175's flight data could still be properly monitored.[14] Also, at 08:51, Flight 175 changed altitude. Over the next three minutes, the controller made five unsuccessful attempts to contact Flight 175 and worked to move other aircraft in the vicinity away from Flight 175.[2]

Near-collisions

At around this time, the flight had a near midair collision with Delta Air Lines Flight 2315, flying from Hartford to Tampa, reportedly missing the plane by only 300 feet or 90 metres, as air traffic controller Dave Bottiglia frantically tried to tell the Delta pilot to take evasive action. Bottiglia was the first person in the control center to realize that Flight 175 was hijacked when he gave directions for a turn. Flight 175 did not respond, instead accelerating and heading toward the Delta plane. The controller commanded the Delta pilot, "Take any evasive action necessary. We have an airplane that we don't know what he's doing. Any action at all."[15][16] Moments before Flight 175 crashed, it avoided another near collision with Midwest Express Flight 7, which was flying from Milwaukee to New York.[17]

At 08:55, a supervisor at the New York Air Traffic Control Center notified the center's operations manager of the Flight 175 hijacking, and Dave Bottiglia, who was handling both Flight 11 and Flight 175, noted, "we might have a hijack over here, two of them."[2] At 08:58, the plane was over New Jersey at 28,500 feet, heading toward New York City. In the five minutes from approximately 08:58 when Shehhi completed the final turn toward New York City until the moment of impact, the plane was in a sustained power dive, descending more than 24,000 feet in 5 minutes 4 seconds, for an average rate of over 5,000 feet per minute.[14] New York Center air traffic controller Dave Bottiglia reported he and his colleagues "were counting down the altitudes, and they were descending, right at the end, at 10,000 feet per minute. That is absolutely unheard of for a commercial jet."[16]

Calls

The complete 9/11 Commission Report available from the archived version of the 9/11 Commission website.

Flight attendant Robert Fangman, as well as two passengers (Peter Hanson and Brian David Sweeney), made phone calls from GTE airphones in the rear of the aircraft. Airphone records also indicate that Garnet Bailey made four phone call attempts, trying to reach his wife.[18][19]

Fangman called a United Airlines office in San Francisco at 08:52, and spoke with Marc Policastro. Fangman reported the hijacking and said that the hijackers were likely flying the plane. He also said that both pilots were dead and that a flight attendant was stabbed.[11] After a minute and 15 seconds, Fangman's call was disconnected.[18] Policastro subsequently made attempts to contact the aircraft's cockpit using the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) message system.[2]

Brian David Sweeney tried calling his wife, Julie, at 08:58, but ended up leaving a message, telling her that the plane had been hijacked. He then called his parents at 9:00 a.m. and spoke with his mother, Louise. Sweeney told his mother about the hijacking and mentioned that passengers were considering storming the cockpit and taking control of the aircraft.[11]

At 08:52, Peter Hanson called his father, Lee Hanson, in Easton, Connecticut, telling him of the hijacking. Hanson was traveling with his wife, Sue, and their 2½-year-old daughter, Christine. The family was originally seated in Row 19, in seats C, D, and E; however, Peter placed the call to his father from seat 30E. Speaking softly, Hanson said that the hijackers had commandeered the cockpit, that a flight attendant had been stabbed, and that possibly someone else in the front of the aircraft had been killed. He also said that the plane was flying erratically. Hanson asked his father to contact United Airlines, but Lee could not get through and instead called the police.[20][21]

Peter Hanson made a second phone call to his father at 09:00:

It's getting bad, Dad. A stewardess was stabbed. They seem to have knives and Mace. They said they have a bomb. It's getting very bad on the plane. The plane is making jerky movements. I don't think the pilot is flying the plane. I think we are going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast ... Oh my God ... oh my God, oh my God.[16]

As the call abruptly ended, Hanson's father heard a woman screaming.[16]

Crash

Diagram of the impact position of both aircraft.

Diagram showing how debris from both aircraft fell after the impact.

At 09:01, two minutes before impact as Flight 175 continued its descent into Lower Manhattan, the New York Center alerted another nearby Air Traffic Facility responsible for low-flying aircraft, which was able to monitor the aircraft's path over New Jersey, and then over Staten Island and Upper New York Bay in its final moments.[14] (Flight 175 came in from the southwest, apparently heading for the Empire State Building, but turned right, then left into the South Tower.)

Flight 175 explodes after hitting the South Tower.

At exactly 9:03:02, Flight 175 crashed nose-first into the southern façade of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, at a speed of approximately 590 mph (950 km/h, 264 m/s, or 513 knots)[22] and striking between floors 77 and 85[23][24] with approximately 10,000 U.S. gallons (38,000 L; 8,300 imp gal) of jet fuel on board.[14][25] The youngest person on Flight 175 was 2½-year-old Christine Hanson of Groton, Massachusetts, and the oldest was 80-year-old Dorothy DeAraujo of Long Beach, California. Hundreds more were killed within the tower and from its ensuing explosion, fires, and eventual collapse. It is estimated that 637 people were killed instantly or trapped at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower.

Based on the position of the aircraft from eyewitness statements and video footage, the aircraft was in a banking left turn in its final moments, as it appeared that the plane might have otherwise missed the building or merely scraped it with its wing. Upon crashing, the plane was banked left. Those who were on the left side of the plane would, therefore, have had a clear view of the towers approaching, with one burning, until the final moment of the flight.[16]

By the time Flight 175 struck the South Tower, multiple media organizations were already covering the crash of Flight 11, which had hit the North Tower 17 minutes earlier. The image of Flight 175's crash was thus caught on video from multiple vantage points on live television and amateur video, while approximately 100 cameras captured Flight 175 in photographs before it crashed.[26] Video footage of the crash was replayed numerous times in news broadcasts on the day of the attacks and in the following days, before major news networks put restrictions on use of the footage.[27]

After the plane penetrated through the tower, part of the plane's landing gear and fuselage came out the north side of the tower and crashed through the roof and two of the floors of 45–47 Park Place, between West Broadway and Church Street, 600 feet (180 meters) north of the former World Trade Center. Three floor beams of the top floor of the building were destroyed, causing major structural damage.[22][28][29][30]

Collapse

Unlike at the North Tower, initially, one of the three stairwells was still intact after Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower. This was because the plane struck the tower offset from the center and not centrally as Flight 11 in the North Tower had done. Only 18 people passed the impact zone through the available stairway and left the South Tower safely before it collapsed. One of them, Stanley Praimnath, was on the 81st floor, and his office suffered a direct hit. He witnessed Flight 175 coming toward him.[31] One of the wings sliced through his office and wound up wedged in a doorway approximately 20 feet away from him. No one escaped above the impact point in the North Tower.[32]

Some people above the impact zone made their way upward toward the roof in hopes of a helicopter rescue. However, access doors to the roof were locked. In any case, thick smoke and intense heat prevented rescue helicopters from landing.

Aftermath

Panel S-2 of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum's South Pool, one of three on which the names of victims from Flight 175 are inscribed.

The flight recorders for Flight 11 and Flight 175 were never found.[36] Some debris from Flight 175 was recovered nearby, including landing gear found on top of a building on the corner of West Broadway and Park Place, an engine found at Church & Murray Street, and a section of the fuselage landed on top of 5 World Trade Center.

During the recovery process, small fragments were identified from some passengers on Flight 175, including a six-inch piece of bone belonging to Peter Hanson,[37] and small bone fragments of Lisa Frost.[38] In 2008, the remains of Flight 175 passenger Alona Avraham were identified using DNA samples.[39] Remains of many others aboard Flight 175 were never recovered.[40]

Shortly after September 11, the flight number for future flights on the same route was changed from Flight 175 to Flight 1525 "out of respect for those who died in the attack."[41] Since then, United Airlines has renumbered and rescheduled all flights from Boston to Los Angeles, and none of its morning flights depart at 8:00 a.m. EDT.[42] As of August 2016, the closest similar flight is Flight 429, departing at 6:50 a.m. EDT, using a Boeing 737-900. It was reported in May 2011 that United was reactivating flight numbers 175 and 93 as a codeshare operated by Continental, sparking an outcry from some in the media and the labor union representing United pilots.[43][44][45] However, United said the reactivation was a mistake and said the numbers were "inadvertently reinstated", and would not be reactivated.[44]

On April 26, 2013, a piece of the inboard wing flap mechanism from a Boeing 767[46] was discovered wedged between two buildings at Park Place.[47]

^National Construction Safety Team (September 2005). "Executive Summary"(PDF). Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers. National Institute of Standards and Technology. United States Department of Commerce. Archived(PDF) from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2008.

2 World Trade Center (also known as 200 Greenwich Street) is a skyscraper under construction as part of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It will replace the original 2 World Trade Center, which was completed in 1972, and subsequently destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001, and it will occupy the position of the original 5 World Trade Center. The foundation work was completed in 2013.

Ahmed Salah Said al-Ghamdi (Arabic: احمد صلاة سعيد الغامدي‎, Aḥmad Ṣalāt Sa‘īd al-Ghāmdī, also transliterated as Alghamdi) (July 2, 1979 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.Ghamdi was born in Saudi Arabia in 1979. He dropped out of school to fight in Chechnya and was probably sent to train in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan where he would be chosen by Osama bin Laden to participate in the terrorist attacks in America.

He arrived in the United States in May 2001 on a tourist visa and helped plan out how the attacks would take place. On September 11, 2001, he boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane so that lead hijacker and trained pilot Marwan al-Shehhi could take over the plane and crash it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, as part of the coordinated attacks.

Al-Ghamdi (Arabic: الغامدي‎, al-Ghāmdī, also transliterated as Alghamdi, Ghamdi, or Ghamidi) is an Arabic family name denoting a member of the Ghamd tribe of Saudi Arabia.

The history of Ghamd goes back to the pre-Islamic era, and many members of Ghamd joined the forces of the early Muslim empire. The Alghamdi tribe belongs to the same root, Azd, as Al-Ansar. Al-Ansar are the two tribes which inhabited Madina, named Banu Khazraj and the Banu Aus, sheltered, supported, and fought with Muhammad in the early days of Islam when he and his early companions from Mecca had to leave it for Madina. Many members of Alghamdi tribe were companions of Muhammad and fought with him. Like most other tribes in the Hejaz region of the country, Ghamd is divided into three large groups, based on geography and lifestyle: the mountaineers (Hejaz) in the central highlands of Al-Baha, the bedouins (badyah) in the desert regions to the east, and the tohm who inhabit the narrow plain of Tihama on the Red Sea coast.

American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda members on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 92 people aboard and an unknown number in the building's impact zone. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 767-223ER, registration N334AA, was flying American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental service from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles.

Fifteen minutes into the flight, the hijackers injured at least three people (possibly killing one), forcibly breached the cockpit, and overpowered the captain and first officer. Atta, an al-Qaeda member and licensed commercial pilot, took over the controls. Air-traffic controllers noticed the flight was in distress when the crew was no longer responding. They realized the flight had been hijacked when Mohamed Atta's announcements for passengers were transmitted to air traffic control. On board, flight attendants Amy Sweeney and Betty Ong contacted American Airlines, and provided information about the hijackers and injuries to passengers and crew.

The aircraft crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 08:46:40 local time. Countless people in the streets of New York City witnessed the strike, but few video recordings captured the moment. Documentary film maker Jules Naudet captured the only known footage of the initial impact from start to finish. Before the hijacking was confirmed, news agencies began to report on the incident and speculated that the crash had been an accident. The impact and subsequent fire caused the North Tower to collapse 102 minutes after the crash, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties. During the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site, workers recovered and identified dozens of remains from Flight 11 victims, but many body fragments could not be identified.

Argenbright Security is an Atlanta-based subsidiary of Securicor that has operated security at airports across the United States, including Philadelphia International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Through a contract with United Airlines, Argenbright operated passenger security checkpoints at Dulles International Airport, where five hijackers passed through before boarding American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001. United Airlines also contracted with Argenbright to manage its security operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, where the hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93 passed through.Argenbright managed some security operations at Boston's Logan International Airport for US Airways, Delta Air Lines, Delta Shuttle and America West. However, Argenbright did not manage the specific checkpoints that the hijackers passed through before boarding American Airlines Flight 11. American Airlines contracted its security operations at Logan to Globe Aviation Services. United Airlines contracted with Huntleigh USA to manage its security operations at Logan, including the checkpoint where hijackers on United Airlines Flight 175 passed through. In November 2001, the Massachusetts Port Authority decided not to renew Argenbright's license to operate security at Logan.Argenbright, founded in 1979 by Frank Argenbright, was sold to the British firm, Securicor, in December 2000 for an initial cash payment of $185 million.

Born in the United Arab Emirates, Banihammad left his family to pursue relief work. Using the Visa Express program, Banihammad obtained a U.S. tourist visa.

Banihammad arrived in the United States in June 2001. On September 11, 2001, Banihammad boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and participated in the hijacking of the plane, so it could be flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Garnet Edward "Ace" Bailey (June 13, 1948 – September 11, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and scout who was a member of Stanley Cup and Memorial Cup winning teams. He died at the age of 53 while aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City during the September 11 attacks.

The Hamburg cell (German: Hamburger Zelle) or Hamburg terror cell (German: Hamburger Terrorzelle) was, according to U.S. and German intelligence agencies, a group of radical Islamists based in Hamburg, Germany that included students who eventually came to be key operatives in the 9/11 attacks. Important members included Mohamed Atta, who led the four hijacking teams in 2001 and piloted American Airlines Flight 11; Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who conspired with the other three members but was unable to enter the United States; Marwan al-Shehhi, who piloted United Airlines Flight 175; and Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines Flight 93 and failed to hit a target in Washington, D.C. (claimed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to have been the Capitol). Other members included Said Bahaji, Zakariya Essabar, Mounir el-Motassadeq, and Abdelghani Mzoudi.

Hamza al-Ghamdi (Arabic: حمزة الغامدي‎, Ḥamzah al-Ghāmdī, also transliterated as Alghamdi) (November 18, 1980 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.

Born in Saudi Arabia, Hamza left his family to fight in Chechnya and was probably sent to al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan where he was chosen to participate in the 9/11 attacks.

He arrived in the United States in May 2001 on a tourist visa. On September 11, 2001, Hamza boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and hijacked the plane along with four other terrorists so that the plane could be crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

The hijackers in the September 11 attacks were 19 men affiliated with al-Qaeda. 15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one from Lebanon, and one from Egypt. The hijackers were organized into four teams, each led by a pilot-trained hijacker with three or four "muscle hijackers," who were trained to help subdue the pilots, passengers, and crew.

The first hijackers to arrive in the United States were Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who settled in San Diego County, California, in January 2000. They were followed by three hijacker-pilots, Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah in mid-2000 to undertake flight training in South Florida. The fourth hijacker-pilot, Hani Hanjour, arrived in San Diego in December 2000. The rest of the "muscle hijackers" arrived in early- and mid-2001.

John A. Farrell Stadium is a stadium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is primarily used by the West Chester University of Pennsylvania Golden Rams football and track & field teams. The stadium was also the temporary home of the Philadelphia Independence of the Women's Professional Soccer league during their inaugural season. Additionally, Farrell Stadium was home to the Philadelphia Eagles for their summer training camp, from 1980-1995. A statue of Michael Horrocks resides at one endzone of the field. Horrocks, a former Golden Rams quarterback, died 2001 in the September 11 attacks; he was a co-pilot of United Airlines Flight 175.

The South Tower (also known as Tower 2, Building Two or 2 WTC) was one of the original Twin Towers in the original World Trade Center in New York City, New York. The Tower was completed and opened in 1973 at a height of 415 meters (1,362 ft) to the roof, distinguishable from its twin, the North Tower by its outdoor observation deck and the absence of a television antenna. Both the South Tower and the North Tower had mechanical floors, and the same type of walls. The new 2 World Trade Center (currently on hold), has the same flat roof, with no observation deck, and no mechanical floors.

The address of this building was 2 World Trade Center with the WTC complex having its own ZIP code of 10048. It was destroyed along with the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) in the September 11 attacks. The South Tower was the second tower to be struck, at 9:03 a.m., and the first tower to collapse, at 9:59 a.m. Of the 2,977 victims killed in the attacks, 614 were in or above the South Tower impact zone. At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the southern pool marks the spot where the South Tower stood.

On the 107th floor of this building was a popular tourist attraction called Top of the World Trade Center Observatories. On the roof was an observation deck accessible to the public and a disused helipad at the center.

Note: Floor numbers in red are part of United Airlines Flight 175's impact area, with trapped floors above this zone marked in dark gray .

NOTE: Atlantic Bank of New York had moved out in July 2001, but they were still paying for the rent as of September 2001.

Mark Lawrence Bavis (March 13, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American Hockey League left winger. Born in Roslindale, Massachusetts on March 13, 1970, he started his career playing hockey for Boston University. After he graduated, he played for the Providence Bruins and the South Carolina Stingrays in the American Hockey League. He was also a scout for the Los Angeles Kings. He was killed on United Airlines Flight 175 during the September 11 attacks. He is the namesake of the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation.

Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab al-Shehhi (Arabic: مروان يوسف محمد رشيد لكراب الشحي‎, Marwān Yūsuf Muḥammad Rashīd Lekrāb ash-Sheḥḥī, also transliterated as Alshehhi; 9 May 1978 – 11 September 2001) was the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, crashing the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks.

Al-Shehhi was a student from the United Arab Emirates who moved to Germany in 1996 and soon became close friends with Mohamed Atta, Ziad Jarrah and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, forming the Hamburg cell. Together, after pledging their lives to martyrdom, they became the leaders of the September 11 attacks. In late 1999, al-Shehhi, Atta, Jarrah, and bin al-Shibh traveled to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and met with Osama bin Laden who recruited the four Hamburg cell members for the attacks in the United States. He arrived in the United States in May 2000, one month before Atta. They both trained in Florida at Huffman Aviation, receiving their commercial pilot licenses in December 2000 from the FAA.

Al-Shehhi spent his time making preparations for the attack itself, such as meeting with crucial planners abroad, assisting with the arrival of hijackers aboard the other flights, and travelling on surveillance flights determining details on how the hijacking would take place. On September 9, 2001, he traveled from Florida to Boston, where he stayed at the Milner Hotel until September 11. After boarding United Airlines Flight 175 at Logan International Airport, al-Shehhi and 4 other hijackers waited 30 minutes into the flight to make their attack, which then allowed al-Shehhi to take over control as pilot, and at 9:03 a.m., 17 minutes after Mohamed Atta crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower, 23-year-old al-Shehhi crashed the Boeing 767 into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He was the youngest hijacker-pilot to participate in the attacks. The impact of the Boeing 767 operating as United 175 into the South Tower was seen live on television as it happened. 56 minutes later at 9:59 a.m., the 110-story skyscraper collapsed, killing hundreds of people, including around 900 office workers and first responders.

Mohand Muhammed Fayiz al-Shehri (Arabic: مهند الشهري‎, Muhand ash-Shehrī; also transliterated as Alshehri) (May 7, 1979 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks. Despite his name, he was not related to Wail al-Shehri nor Waleed al-Shehri, brothers who boarded American Airlines Flight 11 to hijack it as part of the attacks.

A Saudi, Shehri was a former college student who dropped out after failing his courses. He later left his home to fight in Chechnya in 2000, but was probably diverted to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. It was during that time that he would be chosen to take part in the attacks in America. He received a U.S. student visa in October 2000.

Shehri arrived in the United States in May 2001. On September 11, 2001, Shehri boarded United Airlines Flight 175 and assisted in its hijacking so that it could be flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the September 11 attacks and their consequences:

The September 11 attacks were four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C., area on September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks, and the 9/11 attacks have had broad and lasting consequences to military policy, politics, and foreign relations. Effects have also been seen in literature, film, and popular culture.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, four commercial airliners were hijacked and deliberately crashed by the radical Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda. American Airlines Flight 11, departing from Boston, was flown into the North Tower of World Trade Center at 08:46. United Airlines Flight 175, also departing from Boston, was flown into the South Tower 17 minutes later at 09:03. American Airlines Flight 77, departing from Washington Dulles International Airport, was flown into the Pentagon at 09:37. United Airlines Flight 93, departing from Newark Liberty International Airport, was crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 after the passengers onboard revolted.

Standing orders on September 11 dictated that, upon receiving a request for assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) would normally order escort aircraft to approach and follow an aircraft that was confirmed to be hijacked in order to assure positive flight following, report unusual observances, and aid search and rescue in the event of an emergency. The 9/11 Commission determined that on the morning of September 11, the FAA did not adequately notify NORAD of the hijackings of Flights 11, 77, 93, or 175 in time for escort aircraft to reach the hijacked flights. Notification of the hijacking of Flight 11 prompted the scrambling of two fighter jets from Otis Air National Guard Base, but they were not in the air until after Flight 11 had hit the North Tower. An erroneous FAA report of a hijacked plane heading towards Washington ("phantom Flight 11") prompted the scrambling of three more fighters from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, which due to "poor communications", ended up flying eastward, out to sea, instead of heading toward Washington, significantly delaying their arrival on the scene.

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